Message development, social media strategies, and speaker/media training for individuals and groups, so you don't get caught unprepared, speechless or without a message. I'm Washington, DC-based communications consultant Denise Graveline. Want to pick my brain or get a sense of how I work? Do it here.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

CEO blogs and social postings are like catnip for customers, offering the promise of access and a listening ear and all perspective from the corner office. The good news: There are more CEOs and presidents than ever participating in social media. The (maybe) bad news: That group may not include yours. I say maybe because you just shouldn't get caught forcing someone to blog or tweet, even if she's the CEO--and because there are plenty of CEOs who just shouldn't tweet in the first place. Check out these data-laden reports, good and bad examples and case studies to figure out whether and how your CEO should tweet or blog:

By their speeches, ye shall know them: CEOs with no time to tweet and blog can still be a presence by using social media to share speeches, announcements, and letters. The White House has a new presidential documents app that does this for President Obama, and it's a good model for your CEO.

Tripwire Twitter? The Wall Street Journal notes that some CEOs see Twitter as 140 characters of risk--and some of them should think that way. In this example, the communications director helped avert a crisis: "Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. is pushing CEO Randy Papadellis to start tweeting. But when Mr. Papadellis said in a recent interview that one of his first tweets would mention drinking cranberry juice before eating sushi to prevent food poisoning, his director of communications, Cindy Taccini, quickly nixed the plan, noting that the claim hadn't been clinically proven." Note to the rest of us: Might want to tell your CEO not to discuss future tweets in interviews. I admit it: I wouldn't have thought that necessary a week ago, but now I do.

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